When you're looking for a tank...a tank so, well, tank-y that even the likes of Hydravolt, Falcona or a Grass-specializing Cactilla can never hope to OHKO, Tortastone readily comes to mind. With the highest Health stat in the game and useful resistances to Electric, Earth, Titan, and Dino moves, Tortastone becomes an amazing redirecting minion.

Tortastone suffers from a number of huge problems, though, and it's not a surprise. As a full-blown tank, it is what I call a victim of unbalanced stats. That is, while its massive Health stat helps Tortastone achieve its goal of grinning and bearing almost every move in the game, it has a downright horrible Attack stat and a molasses-slow Speed stat. Weaknesses to Water, Grass and Undead moves also wear Tortastone down and leave it to spend the rest of its days in an iron lung.

A particularly bad flaw is that Tortastone is, to me, relegated to more defensive roles. This combined with its other weaknesses make it something of a one-trick pony (turtle?).

It's not all doom and gloom for Tortastone, however, as it enjoys great supportive options such as Ice Enclosure Level Two, Earth Barrier Level Three, and Hulk Inspiration Level Five. (Quick note: If the guide says you can use a skill on your teammate, you can just use it on yourself.) Health and Energy Gems make it even better at the job it does best, and that job is to bear the brunt of incredibly powerful moves with its industrial-strength, diamond-encrusted shell.

This is where you'll find most of Tortastone's support skills, as well as the indispensable Torment. Torment redirects 100% of the damage taken by any of your team members onto Tortastone, so it's a great skill for it. It's practically the poster child of the skill, just ahead of Sumole. Stonequake Level Two (which does 25-50 base points of damage on all enemies) will be your main attack move. It is rather wasted on Tortastone's pathetic Attack stat, though, and so won't be doing much to anything not named Falcona. It's also a shame that it isn't more widely distributed, because I know lots of minions out there that would love to use the move.

There's no reason to be defeatist, however, as this skill tree boasts many other good options. Platinum Level Four raises one of your teammates' armor by a whopping 52%. Ice Enclosure Level Two shields any one teammate for 55 points of damage. Earth Shield Level Four increases your own armor by 33%, and has a 5% chance to increase your Health by 25% for three rounds. Finally, Diamond Skin Level Five passively increases your armor by 33%.

These skills take Tortastone's already gargantuan Health stat and raise it to staggering levels. I found myself gaping a lot of the time, seeing how huge the boost really makes it. Perseverance Level Five passively increases Health by 50%, and Fortitude Level Five passively boosts it by another 40%! If you get both, it'll passively boost your Health stat by an astonishing 90%, when the math adds up.

Other options include Earth Barrier Level Three, which boosts two randomly-chosen allies' armor by 15% for three turns; Rock Slide Level Three, which does 30 base points of damage (in other words, incredibly minimal damage) to three random enemies; Rock Blast Level Three to try to do something with Tortastone's awful Attack stat, hitting for 50-60 base points of damage; and, finally, Prehistoric Bite Level Two, which will hit for 35 base points of damage.

Let's face it...Tortastone's Attack stat is just bad. So, in an effort to cover up, Toy Chest Games decided to give Tortastone these skills, so that it can actually do some damage. Ferocity Level Five boosts Tortastone's meager Attack by 50%, meaning it now has a chance to defeat Falcona. With it came Crazed Blast Level Three, which does 15-265 base points of damage, so it's generally a huge step up for Tortastone.

Hey, they don't call this skill tree the Buffs skill tree for nothing, so head on down and see the other options these skills provide. Thrash does 90 base points of damage with no negatives; Skillful Level Five passively boosts your Energy by 50%; Solder Level Three increases one teammate's armor by 13% for five turns; and Hulk Inspiration boosts group Health by 25%.